Rheineck–Walzenhausen mountain railway
| Rheineck–Walzenhausen mountain railway (S26) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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BDeh 1/2 1 on Hoftobel Bridge
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| Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| System | St. Gallen S-Bahn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Operational | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Appenzell Railways | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of tracks | Single track | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 1,200 mm (3 ft 11 1⁄4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Electrification | 600 V DC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum incline | 25% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rack system | Riggenbach | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Rheineck–Walzenhausen mountain railway (German: Bergbahn Rheineck–Walzenhausen; RhW) is a 1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) long rack railway in Switzerland. It links Rheineck station, in the municipality of Rheineck and the canton of St Gallen, with the village and health resort of Walzenhausen, in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Passenger service on the line now forms part of the St. Gallen S-Bahn, branded as the S26.
The line is owned and operated by the Appenzell Railways company, which also operates several other railway lines in the two Appenzell cantons.
The concession for the construction of a rail link between Rheineck and Walzenhausen was granted in 1889. The Drahtseilbahn-Gesellschaft Rheineck-Walzenhausen company started construction in 1895 and the line opened on 27 June 1896. As constructed, the line was a water operated funicular railway that linked the current upper station at Walzenhausen with a lower station at Ruderbach, some 0.7 kilometres (0.43 mi) short of Rheineck station. In 1909, a connecting tram line was opened, initially operated by a gasolene powered tram and later electrified. The owning company would subsequently change its name to Bergbahn Rheineck-Walzenhausen AG.
By the 1950s the funicular was showing from its age, and it was finally closed on 1 May 1958 as the result of a broken axle. That year work commenced on the conversion of the funicular to a rack railway, using the Riggenbach rack system but retaining the funicular track gauge of 1,200 mm (3 ft 11 1⁄4 in). The connecting tramway was regauged and connected to the new rack railway, although retaining its adhesion operation, and the resulting line was electrified at 600 V DC. To operate the new line, a single four-wheeled railcar, BDeh 1/2 1, was built in 1958.
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